This storm will never end, he thought, gazing out at the blizzard through the small cabin's window. Now what do we do... Zelgadis looked away from the window, mentally taking stock of what they had.
An empty fireplace, a single old blanket, and very little else. Zel sighed. That damned Mazoku... "It's only a day's travel," he says. Now we're in the middle of nowhere. The sorcerer shook his head. "I don't know what else we can do until this storm's over. We're stuck here, Ser-san."
The blond girl nodded weakly, wrapped partially in the blanket. Neither were dressed for long outdoor trips, they had expected to get to the next town fairly quickly. Now they were trapped in this cabin. "Whenever the storm blows over, we'll continue on."
"But in the mean time... this won't be easy, we've got no firewood, and using any fire spell would probably burn the whole place down." Zel sighed quietly, not wanting the situation to seem so hopeless but it was rapidly looking that way. "Ray Wing's out of the question, all that wind and white-out conditions would make it very dangerous. Not only that, the sun's setting soon." Seraya nodded again, the room already seemed darker than when they entered.
"Then... probably it'd be best if we conserved our energy and heat for traveling tomorrow." Ser slipped the blanket from her shoulders and spread it out on the floor, seeing again how small it really was. Zel saw the same thing. It's too small to be shared...
"Wrap yourself up, Ser-san, I'll be fine." She looked back at the chimera, eyes searching his.
"But Zel-san, it's too cold... you'll freeze to death." He shook his head in denial, even though he was shivering and each breath was like exhaling smoke.
"I said I'll be fine." He crossed his arms, trying to seem set on his decision but really keeping his body heat in. Ser's eyes paled worriedly.
"Zel-san, you're already freezing," she said, voice trembling with her own chill. "Please... we need each other to survive through this."
She's right, Zel thought to himself. We need each other's warmth to get through this. "Alright, alright." He stepped to besides her, trying to avoid her gaze. The healer watched him.
"What's so wrong, Zel-san?" He sighed quietly.
I've been asking myself the same thing... "I, er.. that is..." Ser smiled lightly.
"I don't mind having to share, Zel-san. We need each other now," she said quietly, shivering again. He blushed lightly, still trying to avoid her gaze.
"It's not that, it's just.. what would the others say, if they thought... that we slept together, or..." His sentence trailed off as he blushed deeper, ashamed for admitting his worries to Ser yet relieved somehow. He was a little surprised when she laughed weakly.
"Zel-san, what has to be done has to be done... We're keeping ourselves alive." Zel looked up, meeting her eyes again. "Now, stop making excuses and lay down. The sooner we warm up, the better." Ser giggled softly as Zel blushed even darker blue.
Here goes nothing. He slowly laid down on one side of the blanket then flattened out on his back, one arm under his head. He looked back up at Ser, light blush on her face as well as she kneeled beside the chimera, then gently crawled to on top of him.
"I hope you can support me," she commented, grinning slightly at the irony of the question. Zel chuckled quietly as Ser settled down on top of him, her weight hardly noticable to him.
Maybe this won't be so bad, Zel thought as he pulled the blanket over them and tucked it under himself. That left a slight dilemma. If he left his arm at his side, the inevitable movement at night would make him uncover them both. The only alternative... "Uhm, Ser-san...?"
She looked up from where her head was resting on his chest. "Hai, Zel-san?" He blushed again.
"I.. er, see, I..." He smacked himself mentally, What's gotten into me?! It's a simple question. "I, uhm.. I need someplace to put my other arm, and..." Ser smiled softly.
"...and you thought around me would be the best possibility?" Zel froze, trying to read her eyes.
Is she angry at even the idea? "I can leave it if you..." He blinked slightly shocked when Ser took his free hand in one of her own and lead it to her side. She giggled quietly when his hand trembled slightly, sliding slowly around to gently tangling in her hair.
"That tickles, Zel-san," she smiled up at him, eyes glowing faintly then she closed them, using him as a pillow. He smiled slightly back and closed his own eyes.
I was right, this isn't so bad. He very slowly stroked her hair, stone fingers gliding through it's softness. L-sama, help me, I think I'm enjoying this... And before the lemons could get a chance to sprout, they fell asleep to the sounds of the blizzard outside.
The next morning, Lina, Gourry and Xel were trudging through the snow, looking for Zel and Ser. Well... Lina and Gourry were trudging, Xel couldn't be happier. "Snow snow snow snow snow, don't you just love it," he grinned widely.
Lina glared at Xel who had the distinct advantage of floating. "If I had my way, there'd be no winter ever."
"I love snow," Gourry answered, dragging a sled with a snowman on it behind him. Lina sighed, then blinked.
"Hey, is that a cabin?" The three looked towards the seemingly abandoned building, half-buried in snow. "Maybe they're inside," Lina asked no one in particular as she made her way over various snow drifts, the others following.
When she made it to the door, it looked like it had gone untouched for some time, considering the amount of snow in front of it. The amount of snow that fell last night, though... Lina pushed at the door and it loudly creaked open. Her eyes took a moment to adjust to the darkness inside, then...
"Zelgadis?!"
"Ser-chan??"
"Huh?"
"Xel-chan!"
"... Oh, boy."